States conduct 'super' caucuses
This year's Super Tuesday projected to be biggest yet
Aubra Whitten
Issue date: 2/5/08 Section: News
Super Tuesday marks a record in the history of U.S. politics as the day in which the largest number of U.S. presidential primary elections are held simultaneously.
Twenty-four states and American Samoa will hold primary elections or caucuses today. While Mississippi is not one of those states, bordering states Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas will hold their primary elections.
Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute of Government, said Super Tuesday started because states wanted to play a more prominent role in picking the president of the United States. Having numerous states' primaries on one day could show the influence of the states, Wiseman said.
"It's held to allow states a process of selecting delegates to the respective party-nominating conventions," he said.
Historically, Super Tuesday has helped predict the Republican and Democratic-backed nominees for the presidential race, but that may not be the case this year, Wiseman said.
"We may come out of Super Tuesday with one or both parties not having enough votes to predict the nomination," he said.
If this is the case, later state primaries like Mississippi's March 11 primary will receive more attention and have a greater impact than usual on the parties' decisions, Wiseman said.
This year is an open election, Wiseman said, because there are no incumbent presidents or vice presidents running and there are many candidates.
An open election has not occurred since 1928. Additionally, this year is the first time since 1920 that neither an incumbent president nor vice president has sought his party's nomination.
The national parties establish when a state can hold its primaries, Wiseman said. States can be penalized for failing to adhere to these rules, such as the case this year for Florida and Michigan. Both states held elections prior to Feb. 5, and the Democratic National Committee stripped both states of all convention delegates. The Republican National Committee reduced the number of delegates from both states, as well as Wyoming, New Hampshire and South Carolina, by half.
Twenty-four states and American Samoa will hold primary elections or caucuses today. While Mississippi is not one of those states, bordering states Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas will hold their primary elections.
Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute of Government, said Super Tuesday started because states wanted to play a more prominent role in picking the president of the United States. Having numerous states' primaries on one day could show the influence of the states, Wiseman said.
"It's held to allow states a process of selecting delegates to the respective party-nominating conventions," he said.
Historically, Super Tuesday has helped predict the Republican and Democratic-backed nominees for the presidential race, but that may not be the case this year, Wiseman said.
"We may come out of Super Tuesday with one or both parties not having enough votes to predict the nomination," he said.
If this is the case, later state primaries like Mississippi's March 11 primary will receive more attention and have a greater impact than usual on the parties' decisions, Wiseman said.
This year is an open election, Wiseman said, because there are no incumbent presidents or vice presidents running and there are many candidates.
An open election has not occurred since 1928. Additionally, this year is the first time since 1920 that neither an incumbent president nor vice president has sought his party's nomination.
The national parties establish when a state can hold its primaries, Wiseman said. States can be penalized for failing to adhere to these rules, such as the case this year for Florida and Michigan. Both states held elections prior to Feb. 5, and the Democratic National Committee stripped both states of all convention delegates. The Republican National Committee reduced the number of delegates from both states, as well as Wyoming, New Hampshire and South Carolina, by half.
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